Oil spill mop-up makes headway

The most frustrating moment for Bree Hardcastle came when she spotted the red-tailed hawk.

Part of a breeding pair that lives on Angel Island, the raptor was feeding on an oiled bird when Hardcastle and her small team of avian rescuers came upon the predator during daily surveillance searching for oiled wildlife on the hard-hit state park.

"The mouth and face of the red-tailed hawk was completely covered in oil," recalled the state parks environmental scientist, who works for Marin's six state parks, including Angel Island.

From picturesque Ayala Cove - which less than a week ago was washed with foamy oil that resembled chocolate mousse - to the famed parade ground on the island's south side, beaches, coves and crevasses of San Francisco Bay's largest island are getting a thorough cleansing. In the past week, the island has been ringed with bunker fuel oil from the container ship Cosco Busan, which crashed last Wednesday into the Bay Bridge.

More than 50 workers in hazardous materials suits were assigned Tuesday to comb the island's beaches, picking up oiled debris and digging to extract oiled sand buried by the tides.

On the water, skimmers continued to sweep Racoon Strait, hoping to lift oil out of the churning channel shared with the Tiburon Peninsula.

On Tuesday, park staff inspected the perimeter of the island by boat. Things looked a lot better, but some views can be deceiving, they said. Oiled beaches may be covered by a fresh layer of sand thanks to the tides, giving the illusion that the area is pristine when oiled sand may be concealed.

Racoon Strait, an area still dogged by an oil slick, looked considerably better to park staff Tuesday. But that "dramatic improvement" could just be courtesy of the current or tide. The oil could come back, officials said.

Last Wednesday, park staff received an e-mail from the state Department of Fish and Game describing a small oil spill at the Bay Bridge, Park Superintendent Dave Matthews recalled. The e-mail warned oil could make its way to the island, but officials did not expect it to get that far in light of its small size.

By 3 p.m., it was clear the spill's impact was greater than expected. Oil lapped the island. The slick slammed into Point Blunt on the island's southeast side, spreading in a southerly direction, soiling beaches, coves, rocks - everything in its path.

Not knowing exactly how much oil surrounded Angel Island, officials had two designations to describe the damage: heavy or light. In all, a survey of the island by boat revealed Angel Island was 80 percent contaminated, Matthews said.

Park staff scrambled to the spill's incident command post in San Francisco for emergency cleanup training before returning to the island Friday.

The park was shut down over the weekend as cleanup, and the recovery of oiled birds, got under way. The park reopened to visitors Monday, although the shoreline remains closed indefinitely.

Recovering oiled birds has been the domain of Hardcastle and Casey Lee, the park's historical interpreter, who lives on the island.

Over the past few days, a team of three has prowled the coves and beaches in protective gear from boots to eyewear, searching for oiled wildlife in a 5-meter, rigid-hulled inflatable boat. When they spot a bird, they crouch to avoid spooking their victim, and then scramble out of the boat. The chase is on.

"Usually two leap out, one on either side of the bow, and rush the beach with nets," Hardcastle said.

State parks officials are discouraging people from volunteering to clean up beaches. Volunteers are needed to serve as docents, gift shop workers, maintenance helpers and for other duties on Angel Island. For more information, call 435-3522 or e-mail aivc@parks.ca.gov.